


Marks on masks (to be rewritten!)

by Ohfauna



Series: Like the sun and horizon: we'll always meet [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Except he kinda is, Gen, Kakashi isnt a jerk, Platonic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tbh hes kinda a bastard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2020-10-13 05:11:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20577023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohfauna/pseuds/Ohfauna
Summary: She's born tiny and pink with little grass green eyes. She's born with the strangest soul mark either of her parents have ever seen. A horizontal red line like an irritated scar with several silver marks on and around it that seem to come and go.She realizes as she gets older that a changing soul mark isnt normal and begins to fear what it means. Her answers come, 13 years later, in the form of a man who is so deeply fractured it's imbedded into every piece of himself-- including a mark on a girl who just wants answers.--------To be rewritten in a new series!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so this was completely inspired by a platonic soulmates AU i saw and can't find?? I really like it bc tbh I'm not a big fan of Kakashi/any of his students? So I liked that there was a platonic version! Anyways. I think from what I remember it was from like 2015 and hasn't updated but idk for sure  
I'll reference it once I find it

She wakes up, tired on the day of her 8th birthday and already knows from the way the house settles that she's home alone. Sure enough, pinned to the table with a senbon is a note.

_Last minute mission in Earth country. _

_Back in 3 weeks. _

_Love, mom._

This is most days. She sighs and makes a bowl of cereal. Eats the small cupcake with pink frosting from the fridge. Still 30 minutes till the academy starts, and she doesn't feel like being early -sitting in an emptyempty, quiet classroom- today. So she eats slowly. Then gets dressed slowly, brushes her hair and then her teeth, slowly. Grabs her house keys and leaves, walking as slow as possible. 

This is most days. She passes her fathers slupply stand on the way to school, grabs the lunch hes prepared, hugs him tightly as after today, he'll be expanding his buisiness. Traveling out of konoha to other villages to see his merchandise. He kisses her forhead and waves as she walks away. Her smile fades as she walks on. Shes kicking up dust as she drags her feet, getting closer and closer to the school.

This is most days. She continues, barely reaching the school yard as the first bell rings. She slides in her seat and puts on a smile as she oulls out last nights homework and yesterdays notes. 

Life as student in a time of peace is rigorous routine. Preparing for the bad, and always expecting it. She repeats the same days over and over and over and suddenly, seeming out of nowhere, shes 10 and

There's a shinobi at the door, a tall man, unfamiliar. Slouched, face covered, and wild white hair. She sees him and-

_Theres panic, what if, what if something happened? What if shes getting kicked from the academy? What if her mother is getting sent away again, for even longer? What if she's alone? What if her father has been arrested?_

**_Breathe_**.

Somehow the sight of the man, in all his mysterious, ominous, presence, seems calming_. _

_Messenger shinobi come all the time. Its fine. Likely something mundane._

"I need to speak to an adult. Is your mother here?" 

No, she's just left yesterday night. To Suna, where tensions call for disposable chunin.

"She's on a mission outside of fire country currently. Can I help you?"

"There's no way around this. I'm sorry, but while crossing a land border, your fathers merchant stand was attacked. He was killed on site. These possessions are what we are allowed to deliver back to you. I'm sorry for your loss."

His favorite jacket. A lighter. A bracelet made of rubies. That's all that remains.

The man disappears in a swirl of leaves and smoke. She doesn't have a chance to repond to the situation at all. It feels unreal, impossibl . Her father will be coming home in a week nothings wrong, nothings wrong, nothings wrong, but _oh god he's dead. He's not coming home. And moms still gone for a month and I'm here alone and what do I tell her? What if she doesn't come back either and I'm stuck here and I never see her again and - _she slides to the floor and sobs, tiring herself out, she eventually falls asleep.


	2. So it goes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's introducing himself and all she can think is how sad he seems. How detached. How terrified. How angry. The mask around his face may cover his expressions, but she feels that even without it, they'd never know what he was thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never taken an actual (optional, for fun) writing class. I've taken college courses on writing but its all analytical and factual type stuff so. It probably hurts more than helps when it comes to writing such a casual piece like this one. Its hard to write people interacting too??? Ugh. Maybe I'll just die yaknow?

Her mother comes home, sort of. She's different, a little quicker to anger, a little more paranoid, a little more protective.

In the face of this stranger, Sakura tries to stay the same with her positivity, laughing with Ino, giggling over boys. But.

It doesn't seem the same. Now that shes aware of what shes growing up to do. Protect people like her father. Kill the ones like the ones who killed him. Boys and gossip and flowers and candy and everything except tests and practice and spars and _getting better_ seem unimportant. She dives into her studies. Top of her class isn't enough. She doesn't hang out after class anymore (too busy at the library reading everything she can) with the other kids.

Her mother takes more missions, harder and harder. One nasty A rank has her listed as MIA for over a week before she comes back with 1/3 of her squad, grinning madly, missing two fingers and about 20 pounds underweight. She's home though. Until a month later when she's deemed healthy and takes a B rank off the coast of some small but wealthy village.

She can't judge her mother, Sakura can't remember the last time she did anything she would have considered normal before her father. She can't remember the last time she came home and did something different then clean cook eat study shower sleep. Routine seems like the best thing to get lost in. _Her father can't be gone if she's too busy to remember it._

Its only the week of finals, graduation, that she relents and goes home with Ino, for the first time in months to spar for _fun _and have a little group study. 

Its here she learns that Ino has found the other pieces of her soul mark. Hers is a simple thing. A little triangle, an indentation on each side representing a total of two other soulmates. Shes proudly brandishing it, the grey mark having turned black on one side and red on the other. Shes laughing and dragging Shikamaru and Chouji close to hers as well, pulling up their sleeves to show where theirs has a purple side for herself and a red or black for the other. Sakura watches, and her own mark itches. 

And itches.

And she realizes that it isn't her mental state, but her mark is actually burning. She darts to the bathroom and pulls her shirt up to look at her hip where another grey dot is forming around the blood red looking red line. She wonders what it means. 

_Are you hurt?_ She wishes she could ask. _Do you need help? Do you want help? Who are you? Where are you? Are you going to hate me?_

She pulls back down her shirt and, ignoring the burn, walks back to her seat to settle in. She ignores the eyes drawn to her movement.

Its an easy thing when she's focusing on blocking the pain of her mark.

A week and a half later finds her waiting in a classroom, 3 hours after school with her old brooding crush, and the energetic class loser. There's nothing much to do but wait, so she lets her mind drift. 

_I wonder why I've never heard of any one elses soulmark changing. Is mine special? Is that a good thing? Is it wrong? Is my soulmate hurt? Are they mentally rejecting the bond and this is some weird reaction? _Her eyes shift to the two boys who are now arguing in the back of the room. _What are their soul marks like? Is Sasukes soulmate.....gone with his family? Does Narutos hate him like the adults seem to? Are all soulmates guaranteed to be your exception? _

The door slides open. The eraser falls. A man steps through.

Its the same one from all those years ago. She just knows. He seems different now. Not better or worse but...

It doesn't matter. 

"I'm sorry! I didn't even notice he'd-" he cuts her off with a glance that seems so cold she nearly shudders. This man brought her a mild feeling of solace, once, in the face of the news of her father. Now, he just makes her feel like she's small. 

"My first impression is that I hate you. Roof. 2 minutes!" The man tilts his head, and vanishes in smoke. _Just like he did years ago. The same exact shinobi. What a coincidence. Great. She can't look at him and not think of her father._

She didn't even notice him coming.

Naruto is too busy laughing at his own prank and Sasukes already ran out the door by the time she's registered the words. 

"Naruto! We have to go!" She doesn't look back, but does rush to the stairs. 

At the top, out of breath and panting, she looks more closely at the man. He seems...uncaring. They introduce themselves. While her teacher is introducing himself all she can think is how sad he seems. How detached. How terrified. How angry. Hes not projectinh anything. But she just..._knows. _The mask around his face may cover his expressions, but she feels that even without it, they'd never know what he was truly thinking. Then he looks at her and she turns a little pink. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I like studying and the library....my dream is to be strong enough to protect those that deserve it. I dislike wasting time. My hobbies are. Um. Reading and training." Hers is by far the blandest after their senseis. But. Icebreaker done!

The rest of the little meeting passes unremarkebly, a little ribbing, and little scaring. She knew they'd have to test after gettimg their teacher and tries not to worry about what _don't eat breakfast _means- task wise_._ She goes home and crashes early after dinner, ready to do her best for her genin test at dawn.


	3. Don't Look

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She doesn't always remember them. She wakes up confused and terrified and knows she's seen something terrible but for the life of her- she can't remember what.  
Then in the days after her fathers death, she wakes up and calls exactly what she's seen. Last nights dinner is on the floor in seconds.

Shes always had dreams that feel real. Dreams that when she wake leave her feeling like she's still somewhere she's not. When the nightmares come, she knows that she's seen something terrible. That she lived some gruesome happening. She's never been more thankful she tends to forget her dreams when she wakes up. 

She wakes up confused and terrified but it only lasts for mere moments. Then-

Then in the days after her fathers death, she wakes up and recalls exactly what she's seen. Last nights dinner is on the floor in seconds.

_A man **and its her she's the one doing it and **is dragging a kunai down another man's chest, it opens and organs spill out and he moves onto the next nin behind him quickly and **the world is so sharp she can see every detail **simple stands him through the heart he leaves the kunai in his chest and his hands form several signs and he brings his hands up to his mouth<strike>** and oh god no no no no no no **</strike>and 2 men scream as they burn ** and she knows she'll remember this forever he doesn't deserve to forget how could she- look what he's done he's killed them** _ _but he can't wait to see if he's finished them because a combination wind and fire technique is hurting towards him him, two women who stand where he swears there was no one before. He charges launches 4 shuriken and --_

The entire scene changes. 

_He stands there. His hand through a girls chest. She's smiling **I don't deserve to see her smile <strike>stop stop stop</strike>**. The nin he meant to kill is standing where she is. She...switched with him. <strike>**Why? why? why would you make me do this I still feel your heart where it pressed against my arm and stopped moving I still hear it when I sleep. why?**</strike>_

_"I wanted this. I'm sorry I used you to do it." Rin says. Dropping. Dropping like nothing. Dropping like any other shinobi he's killed. Dropping like cattle like something less than human like -----_

_His other teammate stands before him. Obito is frowning. It's one of the few times he's looked actually serious. One side of his body is mutilated **like Rins chest like the injury I put there like the slit throat of the last nin I killed** and still drips blood. His only eye **because I have the other one I stole it if he knew I killed Rin he'd never want me to have it maybe I should pry it out <strike>I should claw it out get it out out out</strike>** is pulsing red._

_"We'll never see each other again. Don't forget you did this." He says. Its empty and cold. Factual, like that's the only truth he knows._

_"I didn't want to, I didn't, I don't, I want to stop, how do I stop this?" _

_It doesn't matter what she says. She's crying to ghosts. _

The second scene is always present. Sometimes its just the girl. Sometime its just her words and the man's. Sometimes she's watching as a blank figure puts his hand through the Rin girl's chest and sometimes she is the man doing it-- thoughts and sensations and all.

The other fight scenes change. Sometimes, its mild. A spar. Sometimes, its watching as she slaughters entire groups under the guise of a mask. Its through these, though, that she realizes her soulmate is older than her, a man, a talented shinobi **<strike>anbu</strike>**, and most definitely from Konoha.

She can't tell if the knots in her stomach at these realizations are good or bad. 

Of course, she doesn't realize for another year that these are her soulmates experiences and not just some fucked up thing her mind created, and therefore another year before she realizes all those things about him. Its an offhand remark from Ino, actually. And really, it makes more sense to be someone else's experiences, she just hasn't seen enough to justify what she sees in her dreams. 

Its at school, one of the few rainy days that have most students inside for lunch.

"Shika, I swear one more dream where I do nothing but cloud gaze and play old man's board games and I'm going to come over and smother you with a pillow!" The nara looks over to her at this and shrugs.

"Me an' Chouji have to put up with all your dumb flower shop dreams. Man! One more dream about bouquet making or flower upkeep and I might just smother myself." He lays his head down in his arms while Ino screeches at this comment, if course, and begins a rant on how her dreams are more useful. Chouji watches from the next row over, snacking on some chips and watching obviously amused.

Sakura moves farther away. Feeling lightly sick. What kind of man could her soulmate be, then?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to get where they meet but I feel like I have to establish their connections first so. Soon?


	4. Grounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the beginning I said trying to write a big chapter fic as your first work was a bad idea and haha i was right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo I didn't plan this out very well and I realized chapters are kinda hard to keep up with.. so I've decided to rewrite this fic as a series! It's gonna be shorter so I can pretty much post whatever is on my mind without too much looking into a whole fic! It's been a while but I'm definitely going to be doing that soon!

It's been a while as I've been busy but I will be rewriting this as the note above should say!

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so im still deciding how long this is gonna be. I feel like going for a long chapter book for ur first work is a little too try hard. We'll see ig?


End file.
